COINTELPRO

Nessie says it is alive and kicking under different names

By nessie

COINTELPRO is alive, well, and thriving. Only the name has changed. Its most disturbing manifestation of late has been moves by federal government to strengthen the ability of local police departments to conduct espionage, surveillance, and similar operations against dissident political groups.

On Jan. 11, 2000, a three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a 1999 ruling by federal judge Ann Williams that had denied the city of Chicago's motion to gut the 1981 Alliance to End Repression/ACLU Consent Decree prohibiting the Chicago police from spying on or disrupting constitutionally protected activities. This is more commonly known as the Red Squad Consent Decree. It was the culmination of a 1974 lawsuit that accused the city of Chicago and its cops of engaging in a century of spying, disruption, and sabotage directed against political opposition. To anyone familiar with the history of political repression by the police of Chicago, the 7th Court's ruling is very disturbing indeed. For a detailed account, click here.

The Chicago ruling did not take place in a vacuum. Political repression by local police has also ratcheted up in Portland, Ore. Two days after being denied permission to target "Left Wing movements," the Portland police nonetheless made their presence felt at a City Council meeting.

According to the Willamette Week, Nov. 28, 2000:

On Nov. 22, three law-enforcement officials testified before City Council in what should have been a routine appearance. Two Portland police officials and a Federal Bureau of Investigation supervisor were requesting permission for the FBI to join Portland police in a special unit called the Portland Joint Terrorism Task Force.

But the language of the ordinance was striking. "The mission of the PJTTF," it read, "is to identify and target for prosecution those individuals or groups who are responsible for Right Wing and/or Left Wing movements, as well as the acts of the anti-abortion movement and the Animal Liberation Front/Earth Liberation Front."

The wording of the unit's mission statement – which said nothing about criminal activity, only political activity – struck some as downright creepy.

The City Council authorized the Portland Police and FBI to form the PJTTF to "identify and target for prosecution . . . Right Wing and/or Left Wing movements . . . and the Animal Liberation/Earth Liberation Front." The PJTTF will deputize local cops as federal agents and employ snitches and provocateurs in an effort to seek "the most effective . . . avenues by which to convict and incarcerate" activists. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed.

Portland cops claim they're not targeting protesters. Don't believe it. They didn't even want protesters to know what they were up to. This agreement was brought before the Portland City Council as an "emergency ordinance," which means that it was voted into law right on the spot and became effective immediately, without the usual procedure of first reading, public hearing, second reading, and the usual 30-day waiting period. The agreement went before the City Council with only the most minimal of notice to the public and no meaningful opportunity to testify. The only reason the progressive community found out about this ordinance at all was that Dan Handelman of Portland Copwatch happened to be at that council meeting, on another matter.

The very involvement of the FBI makes abundantly clear that a centrally coordinated, nationwide program of political repression is at work here. Federal repression of political dissidents took a quantum leap in 1996, with the passing of the Anti-Terrorist Act. It was passed partly in response to the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, allegedly by right-wing terrorists out to revenge the terrorist murders of women and children by federal agents at Waco and Ruby Ridge. At least that's the government's version.

The broadly written law contains language that can charge law-abiding citizens with being agents or affording support to terrorist organizations. Intent to commit terrorist acts is defined as "Appeared To Be Intended Toward Violence or Activities Which Could Intimidate or Coerce a Civilian Population; or To Influence the Policy of a Government." The act can thus be used by police to target any group of persons that would dare demonstrate for or against any issue.

Any picket line or demonstration alleged by police to have blocked or obstructed public access could qualify as "Terrorist Activities" to intimidate or coerce a civilian population. A fistfight between union demonstrators and people crossing a picket line, for example, can be upgraded by police, should they so choose, enabling them to charge union members with "Terrorist Activity."

The act broadly redefines terrorist acts as "involving any violent act or acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or any state." The violent or physical act need not cause bodily harm. Vandalism and arson qualify, no matter how great or small the physical damage. This gives the federal government, particularly the FBI, unprecedented powers of law enforcement at the local level. This is extremely distressing because, by its own definition, the FBI itself is a terrorist organization.

No FBI agent can ever be trusted to tell the truth or to do the right thing. An FBI agent is a person who has refused, as a personal act of conscious will, to resign in disgust from an organization that burns innocent women and children alive. FBI agents are wholly without honor and cannot be trusted one inch farther than they can be thrown.

Among the groups cited by the FBI as the basis for the Portland MOU, two have been repeatedly branded in the press as being "anarchist" in nature. They are the Animal Liberation Front and the Earth Liberation Front. They appear, on the surface at least, to be overlapping organizations. They specialize in arson and vandalism. Their trademark M.O. is that they attack only inanimate objects, never human beings. They have both stepped up their activity lately, especially the ELF. Since both are said to be organized horizontally, as a nonhierarchical collection of autonomous cells, it is not unreasonable to consider that they are, indeed, anarchist organizations.

In politics, however, things are seldom what they appear to be. It is tempting to jump to conclusions, but what is really called for is an objective analysis based on empirical data and the perspective of history. After years of relative neglect, the North American anarchist movement has once again become the favorite scapegoat, whipping boy, and bogeyman of the corporate-government's ubiquitous propaganda machine. It is no coincidence that Sixty Minutes did a hit piece on the ELF only a week before the presidential inauguration. It was a less than subtle attempt to tar all anarchists with the "terrorist" brush.

To understand the real ELF, it is imperative to look beyond the image that is being projected in the media. It is also important not to get bogged down in the debate over whether violence is justified or whether violence against property is "really" violence. Violence has a definite place in life. It is not, in and of itself, either a good or bad thing.

It all depends on the circumstances. When a man attempts to commit rape, he is doing a bad thing. When his intended victim blows his head off, she is doing a good thing. To some people, this is not self-evident. They obviously suffer from impaired cognition. Whether it results from brainwashing or a congenital cognitive deficit is irrelevant. The moral justification for violence against property is even clearer. If violence against property is wrong, then the American colonists shouldn't have thrown all that tea in the harbor and Jesus shouldn't have kicked over the tables of the money changers.

However, just because violence is morally justified in some situations does not mean it is required, or that it is necessarily the wisest thing to do. Au contraire. All actions have consequences. Consequences, not the musings of moralists, are the most important aspect of any action. Look at the consequences of the ALF/ELF actions, not the media images and the moral debate. Pay particular attention to who actually benefits. It isn't always immediately obvious. Keep in mind at all times that the property destroyed by the ALF and ELF is heavily insured. Insurance fraud by arson is exceedingly common. Like all crimes, it is easiest to get away with when there is a plausible patsy on hand to take the fall. And above all, keep in mind COINTELPRO. Do your own research. Don't rely on corporate media. Don't even rely on this column. Rely on yourself. Remember the immortal words of anarchist Emma Goldman, "Ignorance is the most violent element in society." So if you don't want violence, eliminate ignorance. Start with your own. Start today. Click here, here, here, and here. There's more, of course, many more. But this will get you started.

To fully understand the ALF/ELF's alleged connections with anarchism and the role that the anarchist movement plays in the contemporary political landscape, it is imperative to draw upon the lessons of history. Nothing ever happens without a cause. All events are part of a historical process. This is not the first time that anarchists have been called terrorists, and it certainly wouldn't be the first time that they were blamed for terrorist acts with which they had nothing to do.

To gain some historical perspective, it is only necessary to go back 30 years and examine the story of one particular anarchist. His name was Guiseppe Pinelli. His story can be found in a book called Stefano Della Chiaie: Portrait of a Black Terrorist, by Stewart Christie. "Black," in this context is the widely used European political shorthand for "fascist." Its origin is the uniform of Mussolini's goons.

Christie describes in detail how several NATO intelligence agencies used fascist mercenaries to infiltrate leftist and anarchist organizations and to perpetrate a series of terrorist bombings in Italy. These bombings were initially blamed by the press and the police on leftists and anarchists. This was called the Strategy of Tension. It was planned and executed by fascist elements within the NATO power structure. Its purpose was described in a dispatch by the Lisbon-based Aginter Press, a known fascist front. The dispatch was sent to Aginter's Italian correspondents. It came to light in October 1974. It was dated November 1969. It was one of a number of dispatches sent to Lisbon titled "Our Political Activity." It explains the Strategy of Tension thus:

Our belief is that the first phase of political activity ought to be to create the conditions favouring the installation of chaos in all of the regime's structures. This should necessarily begin with the undermining of the state economy so as to arrive at confusion throughout the whole legal apparatus. This leads on to a situation of strong political tension, fear in the world of industry and hostility towards the government and the political parties.... In our view the first move we should make is to destroy the structure of the democratic state, under the cover of communist and pro-Chinese activities. Moreover, we have people who have infiltrated these groups and obviously we will have to tailor our actions to the ethos of the milieu, propaganda and action of a sort which will seem to have emanated from our communist adversaries and pressure brought to bear on people in whom power is invested at every level. That will create a feeling of hostility towards those who threaten the peace of each and every nation, and at the same time we must raise up a defender of the citizenry against the disintegration brought about by terrorism and subversion...

The report goes on to describe the political situation in Italy and the emergence of the extraparliamentary left:

Outside the present contingencies these people are possessed of a new enthusiasm and huge impatience. This fact should be carefully considered. The introduction of provocateur elements into the circles of the revolutionary left is merely a reflection of the wish to push this unstable situation to breaking point and create a climate of chaos....

The unknown author concludes:

Pro-Chinese circles, characterized by their own impatience and zeal, are right for infiltration.... Our activity must be to destroy the structure of the democratic state under the cover of communist and pro-Chinese activities; we have already infiltrated some of our people into these groups....

Another relevant document surfaced in Covert Action Information Bulletin, January 1979 (No. 3), pp. 9-18. It was the top-secret Supplement B to U.S. Army Field Manual FM 30-31. The manual itself is unclassified and discusses techniques for intelligence support and liaison with "host countries" where U.S. troops are stationed. Supplement B is dated March 18, 1970, and is signed by General Westmoreland, American commander in Vietnam. It describes special operations that may be required when "host country" governments "show passivity or indecision in face of Communist or Communist-inspired subversion, and react with inadequate vigor to intelligence estimates transmitted by U.S. agencies." In such situations, "U.S. Army intelligence should seek to penetrate the insurgency by means of agents on special assignment, with the task of forming special action groups among the more radical elements of the insurgency." These groups under U.S. Army control "should be used to launch violent or nonviolent actions according to the nature of the case." The section concluded, "In cases where the infiltration of such agents into the insurgent leadership has not been effectively implemented, it may help toward the achievement of the above ends to utilize ultra-leftist organizations."

Along with other factors such as corruption and organized crime, the Strategy of Tension can be seen in much of the recent history of Italy.

Eventually, the role of the fascist infiltrators and agents provocateurs in the bombings did come to light, but not until many, many lives had been lost, most of them working-class. Guiseppe Pinelli was one of its victims. He was born in the working-class Porta Ticinese district of Milan in 1928. He worked as an errand boy and later in a warehouse. In 1944 and í45 he took part in the resistance as a courier in an anarchist partisan group operating in Milan. In 1954 he joined the railways as a fitter. The next year he married. The couple had two daughters. His friends called him "Pino." A dedicated militant, he was active all his life in a variety of projects and organizations. Most notably he became secretary of the Anarchist Black Cross in Milan. The Black Cross is an international anarchist relief organization for prisoners and victims of repression. Pinelli was murdered in cold blood during interrogation by the police while in custody.

This murder was part of a distinct pattern of repression and manipulation that continues to this day. Next time we'll examine it in detail.

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